Developing Tank vs FileMaker Pro

FileMaker Pro databases became a standard for VFX tracking in scripted television because they hold structured show data in a way spreadsheets never managed. An experienced assistant editor could build out a codebook, add custom layouts, and share it across a small team, provided everyone had a FileMaker license.

The license is where the friction starts. FileMaker Pro runs a few hundred dollars per seat, and sharing a multi-user database means paying for FileMaker Server on top of that. Then a formula breaks mid-production, or a script trigger fires twice, or a layout stops rendering, and you spend the afternoon diagnosing FileMaker logic under deadline instead of cutting.

Developing Tank reads the sequence files your team already produces (AVB, AAF, EDL) and finds VFX shots in the marker data. You define your marker rules once per project and the system applies them to every cut. No codebook to rebuild. When the editor recuts and shots move or disappear, change detection flags each one instead of overwriting the tracker behind your back.

The same workflow produces your EDL, AVB, CSV, and PDF outputs, so a vendor turnover package costs you nothing extra in manual pull work. Google Sheets sync covers the departments that still want a spreadsheet, and you keep one record instead of two.

If your team runs FileMaker today and it works, finish the show on it. Start a trial when you are staffing up fresh, onboarding a show where nobody wants to argue about licenses, or facing another codebook rebuild from scratch.